Lossiemouth West & East Quarries, Elgin (Triassic to of the United Kingdom)

Where: Scotland, United Kingdom (57.7° N, 3.3° W: paleocoordinates 34.0° N, 0.8° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation, Carnian to Carnian (237.0 - 208.5 Ma)

• Specimens were found at the base of the Lossiemouth Sandstone, near to the transition between the fluviatile Burghead Sandstone Formation and the aeolian Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation.

•Age of the Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation is based upon vertebrate biostratigraphy, with comparisons made to the faunal assemblages from the lower part of the Maleri Formation (India), the upper part of the Santa Maria Formation (Brazil) and the Ischigualasto Formation (Argentina). This is suggestive of a late Carnian to early Norian age (Benton & Walker 2011).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: dune; lithified sandstone and poorly lithified, yellow sandstone

• "Foreset analysis indicates a prevailing south-westerly wind forming barchan dunes. Dunes up to 20 m high migrated across the flood plain during arid intervals"
• "yellowish soft sandstone" overlain by "harder sandstone"

•General description of Lossiemouth Sandstones: "The Lossiemouth Sandstones are white, buff, yellow, or pinkish. Grain size is usually uniform with grains well-rounded. The rock is composed of quartz, feldspar, and rare brownish chert and quartzite. Cements are usually overgrowths of secondary quartz and feldspar, but calcite and fluorspar may also occur. The sandstones may be finely laminated, but more usually they show large-scale cross-beds on well-weathered surfaces. These features, as well as the absence of pebbles, the rarity of micas and heavy minerals, strongly suggest aeolian deposition".

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: mold/impression, replaced with other

Collected by W. Taylor; reposited in the BGS, BMNH

Collection methods: quarrying, mechanical,

Primary reference: T. H. Huxley. 1867. On a new specimen of Telerpeton elginense. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 23:77-84 [R. Butler/R. Butler]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 57948: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Kaitlin Maguire on 11.01.2006, edited by Richard Butler

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Reptilia
 Rhynchosauria - Rhynchosauridae
"Hyperodapedon gordoni n. gen. n. sp." = Hyperodapedon gordoni1, "Stenometopon taylori n. gen. n. sp." = Hyperodapedon gordoni4
"Hyperodapedon gordoni n. gen. n. sp." = Hyperodapedon gordoni1 Huxley 1859 rhynchosaur
See Benton (1983) for full list of material
"Stenometopon taylori n. gen. n. sp." = Hyperodapedon gordoni4 Huxley 1859 rhynchosaur
BMNH R3141, partial skull
 Pseudosuchia - Erpetosuchidae
Erpetosuchus granti n. gen. n. sp.9
Erpetosuchus granti n. gen. n. sp.9 Newton 1894 archosaur
BMNH R3139 (holotype), skull and partial skeleton [provenance uncertain; could be from Spynie Quarries]; NMS 1992.37.1, cervical vertebral column; BMNH R4807, block with impressions of 16 vertebrae
 Pseudosuchia - Ornithosuchidae
"Ornithosuchus taylori n. sp." = Ornithosuchus woodwardi5
"Ornithosuchus taylori n. sp." = Ornithosuchus woodwardi5 Newton 1894 archosaur
BMNH R3142 (syntype), partial skull and skeleton; BMNH R3143 (syntype), partial skull
 Pseudosuchia -
"Ornithosuchus longidens" = Dasygnathus longidens11
"Ornithosuchus longidens" = Dasygnathus longidens11 Huxley 1877 archosaur
BMNH R3149, skull and skeleton; BMNH R3561, vertebrae, pelvis and partial hindlimb; BMNH R3916, partial postcranium; MM L8271, partial skull and postcranial elements; BMNH R3562, partial skull;
 Pseudosuchia - Stagonolepididae
Stagonolepis robertsoni n. gen. n. sp.10
Stagonolepis robertsoni n. gen. n. sp.10 Agassiz 1844 aetosaur
 Thecodontia -
"Thecodontia" indet.3 Owen 1859 archosaur
MM L8270, disarticulated skull and partial skeleton
 Dinosauromorpha -
Saltopus elginensis n. gen. n. sp.7
Saltopus elginensis n. gen. n. sp.7 Huene 1910 ornithodiran
BMNH R3915 (holotype), partial postcranial skeleton
 Lagerpetidae - Lagerpetidae
Scleromochlus taylori n. gen. n. sp.12
Scleromochlus taylori n. gen. n. sp.12 Woodward 1907 ornithodiran
BMNH R3556 (holotype), R3146, R3557, R3914, R4823, R4824, R5589
 Eosuchia - Clevosauridae
Brachyrhinodon taylori n. gen. n. sp.8 Huene 1910 lepidosaur
BMNH R3559 (holotype), skull and skeleton; BMNH R3364, partial skull; BMNH R3921, partial skull; BMNH R3929, partial mandible and palate; BMNH R4776, nearly complete skeleton; BMNH R4777, postcranial skeleton with poorly preserved skull; BMNH R4778, skeleton; NMS 1966.43.8A & B, small skull; ELGNM 1978.569 1A, B & C, postcranial skeleton with poorly preserved skull; ELGNM 1978.569 2A, B & C, skull and cervical vertebrae
? Brachyrhinodon taylori6 Huene 1910 lepidosaur
BMNH R3913, caudal vertebrae
 Parareptilia - Procolophonidae
Leptopleuron lacertinum2 Owen 1851 parareptile